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"What Did the Doctor Say?:" Improving Health Literacy to Protect Patient Safety.
Oakbrook Terrace, IL: The Joint Commission; 2007.
 

Low health literacy is a recognized patient safety problem. Prior research has demonstrated that patients with impaired health literacy have difficulty comprehending prescription instructions and warnings. This Joint Commission report, developed by an expert panel, contains specific recommendations for improving provider–patient communication, in order to ameliorate the problem of low health literacy as much as possible. The report recommends that organizations establish communication as a patient safety priority and calls for financial support for patient-centered care initiatives.

 
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Resource Type:  Book/Report

Target Audience:  Health Care Executives and Administrators

   Non-Health Care Professionals > Organizational Behaviorists

   Non-Health Care Professionals > Policy Makers

Safety Target:  Medication Safety

Approach to Improving Safety:  Quality Improvement Strategies

   Legal and Policy Approaches

   Communication Improvement > Provider-Patient Communication > Informed Consent

   Communication Improvement > Provider-Patient Communication > Health Literacy Improvement

Origin/Sponsor:  North America > United States of America
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